The Long Road Back
by Captain Hook the ninja
Summary: "Did I hit him?" There was blood on the road and the boy wasn't moving. "I don't know. I don't think so." "Oh gosh, he is really badly hurt." She rolled him over, revealing his blood stained white shirt. We gasped, not because of the blood, because of the school insignia emblazened on it reading: Blackthorne Insitute.
1. Chapter 1

The noise and laughter of the party died away as we neared my car. Three of us got in.

"Come on, Bex. Stop trying to suck off Grant's face and get in the car." I yelled at the tall, dark haired, cappachino skinned girl.

She finally broke away from him and slid into the backseat next to little blonde Liz.

"Hey, Lizzie, watcha readin' back there?" Macey asked.

"You wouldn't understand."

"You know, you're probably right."

I laughed and pulled the car out of Tina's driveway and out onto the big empty country road. Tina was the most popular and rich girl at our school, the Gallagher Academy. That night she had hosted a giant end of school party for the girls and any guys who happened to show up. The party had been at her parents' mansion out in the middle of the Virginia countryside. It was very secluded with no people living within a fifteen mile radius.

Macey reached a perfectly manicured hand over and turned the stereo up until it was blasting at max. I pressed the pedal down until we were zooming along, rocking out to Maroon 5.

"Adam is so hot." I sighed.

"Cam, you are..." Bex trailed off.

"What! I'm a what?" I exclaimed, laughing.

"Noth- Oh my God, Cam, look out!"

I locked my eyes back on the road and slammed on the brakes. A lone figure lay hunched in the middle of the road. I turned off the car and jumped out, the rest of the girls following me.

"Did I hit him?" I yelled. There was blood on the road and the boy wasn't moving.

"I don't know. I don't think so." Macey exclaimed.

Liz kneeled down and started checking him over. "Oh gosh, he is really badly hurt."

She rolled him over onto his back, revealing his blood stained white shirt. We all gasped, but not because of the blood, because of the school insignia emblazened on it. It read: Blackthorne Insitute.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here is chapter two! Yay! :) OMG, this story has gotten so much more attention than I thought it would! Okay, I won't be able to update again until at least Friday. Sorry, I have basketball Mon-Thurs this week -_- so much... Anyways, here you go, I'm done talking now.**

Macey paced back and forth nervously, shaking her hands. "What are we gonna do! What are we going to do?"

"Mace, calm down." Bex commanded. "We are spies, everything will be fine."

"Yeah, what Bex said." I agreed. "Everything is going to be fine. Lizzie, think. What's around here?"

"Um..." she said, placing her fingers on her temples, thinking. "Safehouse. There's a safehouse. It's hidden away to look like a cabin in the woods. Very secure of course, it _is_ Gallagher. Uh, um, if we continue up the road for approximately two more miles there is a dirt road on the left that looks like an old hunting trail. If we follow that, it will bring us to the safehouse after about ten minutes."

"Alright, you heard her girls." Macey snapped back into action. "Let's get him in the car and get going before someone else comes along."

"But Macey," I gulped, "he's Blackthorne."

"We know that." Bex said calmly. And with Bex, her calm voice was a terrifying sound. "And that's why we need to keep him close and get as much information out of him while we can."

I knelt down on the blacktop to help Bex pick up the unconscious boy. We carried him to the car and Macey opened the door for us. The girls squeezed in around him and I slowly began driving, keeping a lookout for the dirt road in the dark.

Blackthorne, I thought. The mysterious school for troubled boys. Boys who committed crimes were sent there. It was like a detention center, well not _like_ one, it _was_ one. Blackthorne only accepted the worst boys and supposedly had the toughest schedule. I didn't want to know how this boy had escaped, or why he looked so beaten up.

"There!" Liz exclaimed, breaking me out of my thoughts.

The car jolted to a stop as I hit the brakes. Backing up a little, I turned down the nearly invisible dirt path. After what my internal clock told me was exactly twelve minutes and twenty-seven seconds, the path opened into a small clearing with a cabin and a shed. I parked the car and ran up to the door. It was locked.

"It's locked!" I yelled.

"Look under the mat." Bex called back as she lifted the boy from under his arms and Macey grabbed his legs.

"Are you kidding me?" I grumbled under my breath. It didn't seem very likely for spies to hide their spare key under a doormat. Nonetheless, I bent down and lifted the mat up by a corner.

A key glistened in the moonlight.

I mentally face-palmed myself.

"'Kay, got it."

The girls carried the boy up to the door and I held it open for them before stepping inside.

Inside, the cabin consisted of a central kitchen- living room combo and three doors led off from the main room. I quickly opened them all to be greeted by a bathroom on the left and two bedrooms on the right.

"In here." I motioned to one of the bedrooms. Bex and Macey set him down on the bed. "Lizzie, find whatever first-aid stuff you can."

Moments later, Liz stumbled into the room, her arms full. "Oopsie daisy!" There was a clatter as she dropped several items on the wooden floor. At the sound, the boy on the bed stirred.

I gasped, "Shhhh!" his eyelids fluttered open and he groaned.

Macey and Bex stopped picking up the things Liz had dropped and looked at him.

"Where am I?" he croaked.

"What's your name?" I asked, ignoring his question.

It was barely a whisper when he said it, just one word.

"Zach."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry I took so long to update, I know I said Friday and now it's Sunday, but Friday I was having a crappy day and I didn't want to give you guys a terrrible chapter influenced by my bad day. That would totally not be fair to all you guys. Well, better late than never, right?**

**Cassia Goode (guest): no he won't die**

**Guest -Q: Idk what u mean but they are like 16ish in my story unless I decide to make them older**

"Well, _Zach_." Bex spat. "What did you do?"

"Stop, Bex, let him rest and get fixed up first." Liz spoke up. The little blonde started setting out the bottles and packages she had found and set to work.

"Lemme help." Macey helped wipe Zach clean of blood.

I went back out into the central room and started doing what I do best, exploring. In the kitchen there were assorted cans and boxes of nonperishable food items. Rice, powdered milk, hot cocoa mix, preserves, canned meats. In the living room there was a TV, a few DVDs. There was a stock of burner phones, fake IDs, and passports in a safe hidden behind a beautiful painting of a sunset on a lake. The bathroom was stocked with all necessary toiletries and towels. In each bedroom there were two beds, a dresser, and a small closet.

"Okay, we're done." Macey called out ten minutes later.

"Damage report?" I asked.

Liz started spewing off facts in some sort of scientific doctor language. "Lizzie. English."

"Oops, sorry. Zach here has three broken ribs, a sprained ankle, sprained wrist, broken lower left arm, slight concussion, various cuts and scrapes, some quite deep, and there will be lots of bruising. And pain."

Zach groaned. "Alright, so now we can question him?" Bex asked, cracking her knuckles with pleasure.

"Yes, I suppose." Liz said regretfully.

"Okay Zachy. So what did you do to get yourself into Blackthorne?"

"Stole a car, impersonated an official, broke into a museum, and stole a priceless Rafael." his voice crackled as he spoke.

"Get him some water." I told Macey.

"Well," Bex continued, "What's it like in there?"

"You couldn't imagine."

Macey returned with a glass of water. Zach sipped some and set the glass down just as he slipped back into an unconscious sleep.

I stood on the back porch with a glass of lemonade and watched as the sun dipped slowly behind the surrounding mountains. Heavy, uneven footsteps sounded from inside, making their way down the hall. The screen door creaked open. Zach stood beside me, bracing himself against the railing. I looked him over out of the corner of my eye.

His cuts were healing nicely, but they would probably leave scars. They almost made a pattern, a criss crossing pattern of scars on his arms and legs. It was almost as if... No... it couldn't be. Or could it?

"You were tortured." It was more of a statement than a question.

Zach replied with silence, but I didn't need him to confirm what I knew, what I had been trained to know. To see. Notice everything. He turned to go, but I placed my hand on his arm to stop him.

"Wait." I locked my hazel eyes with his luminous **(lol, inside joke about luminous: like yo eyes XD)** green ones. "Who tortured you, and why?"

"Gallagher girl." he said, looking at the Gallagher sweater I was wearing, "Maybe someday I'll be able to tell you that. But that day is not today."

The screen door banged closed behind Zach as he left me staring at the river and the mountains in mystery as the sun disappeared, plunging the world into darkness.

"What is your name?" Bex asked.

"Zachary Goode." Zach answered. He was pretty calm for a person who was duct taped to a chair and being interrogated by Rebecca Baxter.

"Why are you here?"

"I was kidnapped by four crazy girls." he smirked.

Bex didn't even break stride, "What were you doing on County Route 4 on the night of June 15th?"

"I was trying to get as far away from that damn place as possible."

"And what place would that be, Mr. Goode?"

"Blackthorne Institute."

"And what exactly is Blackthorne Institute."

"Well you should know, you go to the same exact school except for girls."

*stunned silence*


	4. Chapter 4

**Hiii... So sorry it's been forever but I have been really busy with basketball play-offs (4th place!) and a huge annoying research paper in English -_- Anyways, this isn't where I wanted to leave off but I needed to post something, so here you go. Thank you to all my loyal readers and this chapter is dedicated to my friend Penelope214 ;) also:**

**DISCLAIMER: All rights go to the amazing Ally Carter! (wasn't sure if I did this yet)**

Our mouths were hanging open. No matter how much training we had received, nothing could have prepared us for that.

"So, you're a..." I couldn't even finish my sentence.

Zach pointed to himself with a smirk, "Spy."

"Tina was always spreading rumors about there being a boys spy school, but I thought they were just that. Rumors." Macey's face was as white as a sheet.

Bex jumped right back in to her interrogation, trying, and failing, to hide her shock. "Er, so," she cleared her throat to buy some time, "Who tortured you?"

"Oh, I highly doubt you four have the clearance to hear that."

"Oh, you wanna bet?" Bex rolled up her sleeves.

"Bex," I said in a warning tone, grabbing her arm.

Zach smirked, man that smirk was annoying. "We have the highest clearance of any girls at our school." Liz piped up. "We have higher clearance than some of the teachers even. Now I think you can tell us who tortured you, and why."

The smirk faded slightly, but the glimmer in his eyes was still there. It was almost as if this was a game to him.

"Well, my dear, I suppose I could tell you a bit of it. See, I was walking across he grounds, going back to my dorm. Suddenly there was a bag over my head and everything went dark. I woke up in a cave, tied with vines. As my eyes focused, I saw..."

We were all leaning in slightly, "What, what?" Liz squeaked.

"A bear." he laughed. "Are all Gallagher girls this gullible?"

This time it wasn't Bex who lost her temper, but me. I slapped Zach across the face, hard and fast. His head jerked back, the smirk was gone, and the glint in his eye replaced with anger. Blood started to well on his lip as I stormed out of the room, Macey and Bex close behind.

"Cammie." I spun on Bex. "What the bloody hell was that?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. Her British accent was thick. "I'm supposed to be the one who does the slapping!"

I tried not to smile. "He's a jerk. An annoying, smirking, conceited jerk. I hate him. I don't ever want to see him again."

"Cam, it's not that bad. Gallagher girls are supposed to like being underestimated and judged." Macey said quietly.

"No!" I screamed. "He didn't insult just _me_, he insulted every Gallagher girl in the history of Gallagher girls! And that is not okay! It's more than that though, it's personal too, but something you wouldn't understand. Something from that summer."

My friends didn't say anything. No one ever spoke of that summer, the summer that changed all of our lives forever. But that's a different story for a different time.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hi guys, sorry it's been awhile, so busy! Also, I had some major writers block, but I'm getting over it now. If you are reading any of my other stories, please know, I am ging to try to have them all updated by tomorrow night. Thank you so much for your patience. XOXO~Captain I watched the ice floating around in my glass of lemonade. The sun was setting on another day; making the river turn into a rainbow of color. A ray of light bounced through the glass and sparkled on my face. A distinctive thud sound could be heard in the cabin as Zach moved about. The thuds were growing closer. The screen door creaked open and I spun around, mouth open, ready to say something I would probably end up regretting, but he stopped me. "Gallagher Girl, I'm sorry. Okay?" Zach shoved his hands in his pockets and stared down at his feet, a long silence drawing out between us. "The thing is, Blackthorne isn't exactly a school for spies, it's a school for... assassins." He ran his fingers through hiss dark brown hair. "Once you get in, there is no getting out. No matter how much you want to. The only way to get out is if you're dead. And right now, they probably think that I am just that." "How come Blackthorne knows about Gallagher, but Gallagher doesn't know about Blackthorne?" I crossed my arms in defiance, setting the lemonade on the porch rail. "Oh, trust me, everyone knows about everyone except if they are a student. That's partially why I was in so much trouble... and still am." "It's okay, we can just take you to my mom. She'll know what to do." "No!" Zach shook his head, "We can't let anyone know that I'm alive. 'Cause then not only me, but everyone even remotely associated with me would be in danger." "Zach, who is after you?" "I can't tell you." "Yes you can." "No, really, I can't. Because I don't know." 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: So sorry it's been too long but ive had several school projects and was grounded from the computer for a little while at one point... so yeah. It's short and sweet, but it's here and it's a cliff hanger ;) mwahahahahahaha luv u guys

**Macey said as she handed me a cup of hot cocoa. **

**I sighed, taking a sip, **

**Bex said as she strolled into the kitchen. **

**I heard some noise coming from the room where Zach slept so I got out of there quickly. **

**Macey put a hand on my arm. **

**Why does that seem to be the only thing people ever say to me lately? So I got kidnapped, like, two times? Whatever. Pulling on my coat, I headed out into the chilly morning air. The river was running fast and furious down in the valley. The level had risen almost a foot after the heavy rains of the previous night. Water swirled, dark and muddy, carrying a variety of debris along in the swift current. I carefully picked my way down the bank until I was standing at the edge of the water, arms crossed over my chest against the chill. **

**Somewhere up the hill behind me, the back door creaked and slammed. I could barely here it over the roar of the river though. Staring into the river, I lost myself in thought, caught up in the swirls and whirls. **

**I spun around too quickly for the slippery slope and saw Zach standing at the top of the bank just before my head went under the water.**


End file.
